Sri Lankan authorities announced on Monday that they had blocked some social networks and messaging apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp, following violence against mosques and Muslim-owned shops.
Christian groups attacked Muslim-run shops in the northwestern city of Chilaw on Sunday in response to a comment posted on Facebook by a shopkeeper, police said. Security forces fired into the air to disperse the crowd, but other cities were the scene of violence against Muslims. The island has been under tension since the Carnage of April 21, when 258 people were killed in attacks that targeted three churches and three hotels.
Police said the curfew imposed in and around Chilaw had been lifted on Monday. But social networks have been blocked to prevent them from being used to stoke tensions. “Don’t laugh again, one day you’ll cry,” one Muslim shopkeeper wrote on Facebook. Christians in the region saw the post as a warning about the impending attack. The crowd ransacked their business, prompting the intervention of law enforcement and the establishment of a curfew on Sunday afternoon. A biker gang attacked shops in the town of Kuliyapitiya, where four people were arrested, authorities said. Dozens of people then besieged the police station where the four were being held, leading to their release. Despite the curfew, a mosque was vandalized.
There had already been clashes between Christians and Muslims in Negombo, a town north of Colombo that had been a target of the Easter attacks. The main body bringing together the Islamic clergy, All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), deplored an increased suspicion of Muslims since the suicide bombings. “We call on members of the Muslim community to be patient and avoid posting things that are not necessary on social networks,” said ACJU. Internet service providers said they had been ordered by the telecoms regulator to block access to Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. The outbreak of violence came as churches on the island were able to celebrate Mass again on Sunday for the first time since the attacks. Muslims make up 10% of the population of Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority country. Christians are around 7%.
